ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Oliver Ries <oliver.ries@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I wanted reach out to a broader group and discuss the update cadence for
Ubuntu on Phones. In respect of our customer relationships I want to keep
the discussion focused on relative time frames rather than specific fixed
dates.

tl;dr
Starting with the availability of Ubuntu on phones we intend to provide
monthly updates, with exceptions for security and other critical bugs. The
content of said updates will be determined in a Scrum-like fashion by
prioritizing existing backlogs as input for 2w engineering iterations.

We recommend a monthly release cycle in the first 6 months to be able to
quickly react to customer feedback while balancing any burden that updates
may cause (e.g. validation). Deviating from the recommendation in 2 week
increments is acceptable upon request from the stakeholders/customer.

Update Cadence:
* System components:
 - OTA (over the air) updates in 4 week iterations, starting at retail date
 - Content
  - Critical/High bug fixes that are not leading to data loss or loss of
major functionality
  - UX fixes
  - Prioritized feature backlog

* Click packages:
 - Updates are available immediately after the app author updates his app
in the app store
 - Checks against supported frameworks will ensure compatibility with the
then current system image

* Security updates & Critical Issues
 - Security updates will trigger a System Image or Click update at the time
they occur and a fix is available
 - A security update of the system image will solely contain updates to
components that are affected by the security issue
 - Any Critical bug that leads to data loss and/or loss of major
functionality will also trigger an out of schedule update at the time the
incident is understood, assessed and a fix/remedy is available


Backlog & Engineering Management
We intend to move more to a Scrum-type development model, where a small &
well defined sprint backlog is managed by all stakeholders and will be
implemented & delivered for an image promotion within sprints of 2 weeks
length. The customers, via the commercial team, will decide when to trigger
an OTA update. We plan to use following key Scrum elements:

Product Backlog
A list of features and bug fixes that is widely open for input from various
sources such as Product Management, Design, the Community, early adopters,
engineering etc pp.

Sprint Planning Meeting
The meeting where the Product Backlog will be regularly reviewed and
prioritized in preparation of the upcoming engineering sprint.
Representatives of the various functions (Commercial Team, Product
Management, Design, Community, Engineering) will be conducting the meeting
under the facilitation of a meeting chair/host

Sprint Backlog
A subset of engineering tasks serving as input for the upcoming engineering
sprint, as defined in the Sprint Planning Meeting

We are curious to get your feedback to make sure this plan will not
interfere with other parts of the Ubuntu ecosystem. Please follow up in
this thread or contact me directly.

best,
Olli